Digging yourself out of a difficult situation, by definition, is not easy, but Tony Reynolds has made a career out of it – and a very successful one at that.
As the third generation in his family to run the catering supplier, the Reynolds MD has a knack for problem solving, and he has made it his mission to do whatever it takes to deliver on time every day to the company’s vast network of foodservice customers. These include some giants: Pizza Express, ITSU, Marriott Hotels and the UK’s largest hospitality company Whitbread, to name just a few.
The Spanish shortages – Reynolds’ most recent hurdle – continue to affect the business. Yield reductions in lettuce (iceberg, Cos and Gem), courgettes and tomatoes hit the company hardest but “we’ve done a great job of finding products”, Reynolds says. In tomatoes, which have been the biggest challenge according to head of marketing Andy Weir, the company has juggled varieties and volumes to make sure customers get tomatoes as near as possible to their preferred varieties. In leaf, however, there are big challenges still to come, with delayed planting likely to prolong shortages into May.
The key to managing this situation, and others like it, has been communicating with customers – to ensure “there are no surprises and they understand the challenges we’ve faced”, Reynolds says. “Hopefully it’s given our customers a better understanding that this job is not as easy as they think. We do such a good job that our customers have high expectations of us.”
Unlike some other suppliers, Reynolds did not take the decision to fly in iceberg lettuce – simply put, because the company’s loyal and understanding customer base did not ask him to. Strong relationships with suppliers have also helped. “Because we have quite robust agreements and we work with our growers during the times of crisis, we get supported,” explains Weir. “The last time in recent years that we had to go outside of our normal countries of origin was when we sourced avocados from Mexico during the shortage in 2016.”
Speaking to the pair you get a sense of the meticulous control necessary to run such a large and well-oiled supply machine. Having one central point of stock management – in Waltham Cross, north London – gives the business total control over its products and helps ensure consistency of supply. Around 60 per cent of volume is delivered direct from this national distribution centre, while the remaining 40 per cent goes out via the firm’s network of radial delivery depots. The benefit of this ‘hub and spoke’ system is control, Reynolds says, “absolute paranoid control”.
As the business expands its network of customers Reynolds has added three new depots to its distribution arsenal in the past year, bringing the total number to eight. The new centres in Eastleigh, Bury St Edmunds and Gillingham “support the trend of more and more of our foodservice customers opening outside London,” says Reynolds. “The cost now is so prohibitive that people are testing their concepts outside of the capital.”
They are also evidence of the company’s recent financial success, with turnover exceeding £200 million in 2014 and 2015. This figure fell to £189m in 2016, however, as the company reduced some of its third-party products to concentrate on its core fresh produce business.
The company’s stated aim in 2014 was to reach sales of £300m by 2019 but progress towards that goal “has been interesting”, Reynolds says with a wry smile. Although the company succeeded in boosting its turnover, the business did not develop its top-line performance as well as expected. The main reason is that the company began to focus too heavily on additional third-party ingredients – such as flour, rice and meat – rather than sticking to what it does best: fresh produce.
Turnover growth was being disproportionately driven by these extra products, which Reynolds began to bolt on to its fresh produce deliveries, but they weren’t delivering strong enough profits. “We got caught up in quite a lot of supply chains that weren’t delivering the right numbers for us,” says Reynolds. “We’ve got room for a percentage of third-party trade, but not at the rate it was growing. We’ve had to respectfully retract from that sector.”
On the produce side the strongest product growth has been achieved through all the usual suspects: avocados, berries and brassicas, particularly kale and cauliflower. As the Millennials continue to drive food culture, sharing photos and comments on their eating-out experiences online, there is more excitement and hype surrounding fresh ingredients than ever before, Reynolds believes. “Everyone is looking for the next superfood,” he says. “What’s going to be the next pomegranate, the next avocado? It’s infectious.”
Amid all this fast-moving excitement, Weir sees the company’s role as that of a cross-pollinator, passing on inspiration and ideas to restaurants, while being careful not to give away any of his customers’ trade secrets. “Because we work with a large mix of both big and small brands we are able to cross pollinate the ideas and trends that our customers use, particularly in the casual dining sector,” he says. “Being able to show customers new products like bergamots and finger limes is great, but giving them half a dozen different ways to use the product as well is where the real added value comes in.”
Reynolds clearly takes great satisfaction from the reliable service and value his company offers its customers, commenting several times on the team’s dedication to “doing whatever it takes” to ensure consistent supply. What he is most proud of is “not giving up”, and he concedes that this has placed strain on his family relationships at times.
“Unfortunately you’ve got to have a slightly selfish attitude sometimes,” he says. “You only achieve what we have if you bring your family along with you.” And this is especially true in the case of Reynolds, a family business that also employs Tony’s wife, Sarah and 26-year-old son, Tom. “Wherever you go, whatever you do, you’re only a few seconds away from talking about work,” he says. “It’s full on, but I love it.”
Who's the boss?
Last year Reynolds took the brave decision to feature in BBC Two series Who’s the boss?, inviting the cameras in to test out a recruitment method used by some of Silicon Valley’s biggest companies. ‘Collaborative hiring’ involves most members of a company’s team in the hiring process and the makers of the programme wanted to see whether it could work at Reynolds, which was looking for a new distribution manager. “It was a great experience and I think collaborative hiring is a fantastic idea, but it was difficult to find time for a week-long interview,” Reynolds says. “The logistics also weren’t ideal in our business – people work at different times in different departments – but in a small tight-knit business I think it would work a lot better.”
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